Matcher-head for wood-planers.



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WMM HWE PATENTED NOV. 28, 1905,

0. W. H. BLOOD. MATCHER HEAD FOR WOOD PLANERS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16,1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. H. BLOOD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO S. A. WOODSMACHINE COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 28, 1965.

Application filed July 16. 1904. Serial No. 216,793.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLEsW. H. BLOOD,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident the aforesaid adjustment.

' The usual manner of adjusting a matcherhead is to stop the machine andthen laboriously lift or lower the matcher-head orshaft and connectedparts by tightening and loosening one or more bolts and nuts underneaththe machine or upon the body of the head, this mechanism being not onlyslow, awkward, and inefficient, but consuming a'great deal of time insubsequent testing to see if the adjustment is correct. For instance, inmatching hard woods for line work the adjustment must be extremelyaccurate, so as to bring the adjacent top surfaces at the edges of theboards into absolutely the same plane, and if the adjusting mechanism isat the bottom of the machine or underneath the frame and is accomplishedby means of a wrench or other means difficult to handle or hard to getat, and especially if the machine has to be stopped for the adjustmentand then started up for trial to see whether the adjustment issuflicient or not, it is evident that there is an unwarrantedconsumption of time, labor, and patience. Accordingly my inventionresides in providing means for enabling the operator to adjust thematcher-head while watching the operation of the running machine, or, inother words, I provide such a construction, location, and arrangement ofparts that the operator can watch with extreme care the result of theadjustment as he is making it,.

the adjusting means for this purpose being located at the top of themachine, from which the cutter-head and all the parts carried therewithare supported, my invention also including mounting the chip-breaker onsaid adjusting mechanism or coaxially thereof, besides various features,as referred to above, relating to the vertical adjustment and as will bemore fully pointed out in the following description and further definedin the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents my invention in side elevation, theframe of the machine being shown in vertical longitudinal section,partly broken away. Fig. 2 is a transverse horizontal section taken onthe line 2 2, Fig. 4. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the parts shown inFig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4 4, Fig. 2,showing the construction of the adjustable journal-box and support atthe bottom end of the matcher-head frame; and Fig. 5 is an enlargedfragmentary view, partly in section, of the top portion of the adjustingmechanism.

It will be understood that my invention is applicable to the generalline of woodworking machinery containing matchers or side cutters, ausual planer-frame or bed a being herein indicated having parallel waysa a extending across the machine, in which the opposite matcher-headsare adjustable toward and from each other, only one thereof being hereinshown for convenience of illustration. Mounted between these ways is asupporting leg or yoke a bolted or otherwise secured to a topmatcher-plate a, resting on said ways and adjustably clamped thereto bymeans of a wedge-block a tightened by a bolt a, working in a boss a onsaid plate a. The wedge-block a wedges against the beveled edge of theway a at one side and against the oppositely-beveled edge of the leg oryoke 00 at its opposite side. The lower end of the hanger a is U-shapedin horizontal section, having opposite vertical Ways a? a on its innerfaces in which slide guide-ribs (1/ (1 of a journal-box and carrier (Lfor supporting the lower end a of the cutter-spindle a, whose upper endcarries the cutterheada The lower end of the spindle a has a longbearing at a" in said box and is grooved at a to receive an arm a, thelower end being engaged with and resting on a steel disk a, mounted on abrass or composition step a, suitably supported, as on a bolt c0 saidarm a and step construction cooperating to cause the spindle and journalbox to move positively up and down together.

Extending upwardly from the journal-box (L13 is a rod (Z25, heldimmovably in a hub (1 of a bracket a by screws a and threaded at itsupper end to receive a hand-wheel or adjusting-nut a, resting againstthe upper side of a boss a projecting from the stationary left-handportion a of the chip-breakerhousing, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, theswinging right-hand portion a of the chip-breaker having ears a a, bywhich it is pivoted to the rod a The hand-nut a is held against verticalmovement by a plate 0. engaging an annular groove a therein, and the adjustment of the rod (L25 is read on a micrometer-scale a, clamped on theshouldered end of said rod.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that the operator canreadily get the desired adjustment with the utmost exactness withoutstopping the machine simply by turning the hand-nut a, thereby adjusting the entire cutter-head, spindle, and bearing exactly together asthey are. My construction enables this adjustment to be accomplishedfrom the top of the machine, the hand-nut a being located convenient tothe hand of the operator as he leans over the machine, if desired, towatch the effect of the adjustment on the Work being done by thecutters. The positive control for both upward and downward adjustment isalso of importance, as it revents possible inaccuracy on account ofjumping. The stepped bearing permits all wear to be taken up, and themovable journal-box permits everything to remain in the same relationnotwithstanding the vertical adjustment of the cutterhead.

The journal proper for the bearing a includes a removable front portion(L38, held by screws a a and engaging the opposite sides of theoil-chamber a, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The front a is removable toafford ready access to the inclosed parts. This oilchamber is soconstructed as to maintain all the lower bearing portions of the deviceconstantly immersed in oil and is an important feature. Afilling-opening a, closed by a flap-cover a, is located at the top ofthe chamber a, and all the bearing portions a a a (L21 are located on alower level within said chamber.

In use the operator instead of being obliged to stop the machine and tokneel down, so as to work under the machine, simply stands upright inthe usual osture for running the machine and grasps t e hand-wheel awhen he wishes to adjust the cutter-head up or down, turning saidhand-wheel one way or the other with the utmost freedom and closelyWatching the adjustment as the cutter a cuts the timber or determiningthe adjustment by means of the gage (1 The entire cutter-head andsupporting and driving mechanism are carried in the rigid frameconsisting of the top matcher-plate and supporting leg or yoke and arebodily adjustable therein simply by raising or lowering the rod (1 bymeans of the hand-wheel a. The parts go up or down together without varying their relative position or adjustment with relation to each other.This prevents any possibility of the shaft a getting out of alinement orthe bearings changing adjustment, and, moreover, it insures certaintyand rigidity of movement, adjustment, and operation. The bearing-surfacea does not change its position in the journal-bearing, as would be thecase if they did not move to gether, and also because of my arrangementthe lubrication is continuous and uniform, and yet all the parts arerendered accessible.

I do not intend to restrict myself to all the constructional detailsherein described, as I am aware that many changes in form, arrangement,and combination of parts may be resorted to without departing from thespirit and scope of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a machine of the kind described, a bed, a top plate transverselyadjustable in the top of said bed, a depending leg rigidly secured tosaid top plate within said bed, vertical ways on said leg, a journal-boxfreely movable in said ways, a vertical shaft having a bearing beneathits lower end in said box and an upper bearing, a matcher-head fast onthe upper end of said shaft above said plate, and an operating-rod forvertically moving said box and shaft, said rod extending parallel tosaid leg and provided at its upper end above said plate withhand-opcrating means located close to said matcherhead.

2. In a machine of the kind described, a bed, a top plate, amatcher-head and vertical shaft carried thereby, an end bearingsupporting the lower end of said shaft, guiding means for said bearing,a rod supporting said bearing and longitudinally immovable with relationthereto, said rod having a threaded end extending above said bed, and ahand-nut on said threaded end engaging a fixed part of the machine,operation of said nut simultaneously moving said shaft and rod, wherebythe adjustment of the matcherhead may be determined by the longitudinalmovement of said rod with relation to said nut.

3. In a machine of the kind described, a bed, a top plate transverselyadjustable in the top of said bed, a vertically-adjustable matcher-headand depending shaft carried by said plate, and adjusting means mountedin and moving with said plate for bodily moving said matcher-head andshaft vertically, said adjusting means being provided above said platewith hand-operating means.

4. In a machine of the kind described, a vertically-adjustablematcher-head, its driving-shaft, a lower journal-bearing for said shaft,a top plate and depending supportingleg for said bearing and shaft, alubricatingchamber for submerging the journal-bearing and shaft-bearing,and means operated from the top of the machine for simultaneouslyadjusting all of said parts with relation to said plate and leg.

5. In a machine of the kind described, a vertically-adjustablematcher-head, its driving-shaft, a top plate and dependingsupporting-leg for said shaft, a journal-box containing alubricating-chamber for the lower end of said shaft, the latter beinggrooved adj acent its lower end, an arm fast in said box extendinglaterallyinto said groove, a step bearing beneath the adjacent end ofsaid shaft, and an adjusting-bolt in said box for adjusting said bearingtoward said arm, whereby wear is taken up between said arm and bearing.6. In a machine of the kind described, a

I bed over whose top surface the work to be matched travels, a top platetransversely adjustable in the top of said bed, a leg depend ing rigidlyfrom said top plate within said bed, a journal-box supported by thelower end of said leg and vertically movable thereon, a shaft extendingupwardly from said box, a matcher-h'ead mounted on the upper end of saidshaft, a bracket on said box, a rod held by said bracket and projectingupward through the top of said bed, a bearing for supporting the upperend of said rod and thereby supporting said box, and hand-operated meansforvertically adjusting said red, box, shaft and matcher-headsimultaneously, said shaft adjacent its lower end having a peripheralgroove, said box containing a j ournal-bearing and a stepped bearingseparated from each other at said groove, and an arm rigidly supportedin said box and extending in said groove for preventing the shaft frommoving upwardly independently-of said box.

7. In a machine of the kind described, a vertically-adjustablematcher-head, an adjusting-rod extending above the top of the machinefor adjusting the same, and a chipbreaker for said matcher-head, pivotedon said rod.

8. In a machine of the kind described, a vertically-adjustablematcher-head, means located on top of the machine for adjusting thesame, and a chip-breaker pivoted concentrically of said adjusting means.

9. In a machine of the kind described, a vertically-adjustablematcher-head, a chipbreaker surrounding the same comprising a stationarypart and a movable part pivoted together at one end, and anadjusting-rod for said matcher-head extending at said pivotal end andsupported on said stationary part of the chip-breaker.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES W. H. BLOOD.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. MAXWELL, E. G. PRocToR.

